Professional Learning

Ignite your Professional Learning with Cognition

We design and deliver professional learning programmes that raise student achievement from strategic locations within Asia Pacific as well as professional development for clients based in Europe and the Middle East regions.

Below are the programmes currently offered in Asia Pacific or click here to learn about our programmes in Europe and the Middle East regions. Cognition is a New Zealand Ministry of Education accredited provider and has a track record of building equity and excellence particularly for school leaders, but also for teachers and their students. We have extensive expertise across a wide range of areas including collaborative impact programmes, innovative learning, school leadership (including the NZC) digital fluency and mathematics. Cognition works closely with you to develop a customised solution that meets the specific needs of your school or Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako.

“Our teachers appreciate the way Cognition works alongside them, revisiting concepts, providing new ideas and encouraging them to think about how these can be implemented to extend student learning.” – Jeanette Small, Deputy Principal at Mairangi Bay Primary School.

Meet our team of fully accredited consultants

Mathematics

Building precision in mathematics teaching

We offer sustained professional learning that expands knowledge about mathematics content and pedagogy through an inquiry approach. Informed by international best practice and research, we provide personalised and collaborative opportunities to reflect analytically on practice, to critically evaluate research and to develop strong inquiry skills with time for self-reflection.

“Our board noticed the shift in mathematics data school wide, and our team leaders all discussed the excellent PD they’ve been getting from Cognition. There has been a shift in motivation, engagement and learning.”– Eden Sullivan, Deputy Principal at Clevedon School

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Digital Fluency

The power to transform teaching and learning

For students to thrive in the digital age, it is essential that digital fluency is fostered within the school curriculum and in the pedagogical practices of school leaders. Digital fluency incorporates all aspects of learning, teaching and management for schools in the digital age. These aspects include: the use of digital technologies within school management processes; developing a school digital strategy to achieve curriculum goals, including infrastructure management; effective pedagogy for future-focused learning and teaching; and most importantly, the use of e-learning tools to raise student achievement, while also incorporating good digital citizenship practices.

We offer a flexible approach for both individual schools and Kāhui Ako. This may include change management processes, professional learning and development (PLD) involving teachers, leaders, whānau and/or community. Our targeted professional development and learning is designed to meet your needs in specific areas of pedagogy and practice to achieve charter goals for schools. Our methodology for supporting learning and change includes coaching and mentoring, inquiries through professional learning groups (Teaching as Inquiry), online support (synchronous and asynchronous) as well as face-to-face workshops, presentations, parent meetings and discussion forums to meet your digital fluency goals. Where technical or infrastructural advice is needed, we work with our partners, New Era Technology.

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Relationships-based Learning

We grow local capability and collective efficacy, which equips learning organisations with the skills to accelerate progress and achievement for all students, including indigenous and marginalised groups. Our programme has been developed in close partnership with Professor Russell Bishop. It is based on more than a decade of research into the ways that classroom power relationships and traditional teaching methods have failed to support indigenous learners. Relationships-based Learning (RbL) offers a fresh and proven approach to help all those working in education to meet the challenges of raising achievement levels for particular groups of learners. The programme overview shows how our evidence-based inquiry model is built around a series of workshops and in-school data gathering. Our RbL team can adapt the components of the model to meet your specific needs.

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Culture Counts Plus

Improving achievement for indigenous and minoritised students

Effective relationships are at the core of learning. Designed in collaboration with Emeritus Professor Russell Bishop, Culture Countsplus supports educators to build effective relationships with their students, with an emphasis on minority and minoritised students. The programme is based on more than a decade of research, looking into classroom power relationships and the ways that traditional teaching methods have failed to support indigenous learners. Culture Countsplus offers a fresh and proven approach for state and regional education departments, clusters of schools, individual schools, school leaders and teachers.

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Innovative Learning

Making collaborative practice a reality in all learning spaces

As New Zealand schools embark on new ways of learning and teaching, there is a focus on creating flexible learning spaces. Questions about teacher practice and how students learn best in these spaces need to be explored and contextualised for all schools. Many school leaders are grappling with the change management issues involved in this process, whether there is a new build involved or just moving to a more collaborative practice model within traditional buildings. Most schools are finding that simply redesigning learning spaces does not automatically lead to a transformation in learning and teaching.

We work with you to build an implementation plan to enable change. Our methodology includes gathering voice from all stakeholders, co-constructing an implementation plan, coaching and mentoring, establishing inquiries through professional learning groups, community engagement, online support (synchronous and asynchronous), face-to-face workshops and presentations.

We enable professional learning and development that works best for your school, or Kāhui Ako, to transform learning and teaching in your space at your pace.

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Leadership

Accelerating student achievement through effective leadership

Effective leadership at all levels of our schools is required if we are to be able to make the shifts in student progress and achievement required for the 21st Century. Cognition Education consultants provide a diverse range of leadership development opportunities for schools and Communities of Learning.

These include supporting:

– Establishment Boards of Trustees establishing new schools.

– Boards of Trustees to undertake principal and senior leadership team appointments.

– Boards of Trustees to undertake principal and senior leadership team performance reviews and appraisals.

– Senior leadership teams to undertake a review of their school based curriculum and alignment to the NZC.

– Embedding inquiry in school and classroom practice.

– Middle leader and across and within Kāhui Ako Lead teachers development in leadership, coaching and mentoring techniques.

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New Zealand Curriculum

Accelerating student achievement through effective and innovative implementation of the New Zealand Curriculum

Effective and innovative implementation of the New Zealand Curriculum supports schools to make the shifts in student progress and achievement required for the 21st Century. Cognition Education consultants support schools and Kāhui Ako to realise a local and connected curriculum for their students.

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GaTE

Creating a rising tide of success in the regular classroom

Our Gifted and Talented Education (GaTE) professional learning programme has a specific focus on identifying and nurturing high student potential across all ethnic and economic backgrounds. We achieve this through a cohesive, evidence-based school-wide programme, based on internationally recognised best practice.

Through an affirmative, strengths-based model, we will work with your staff to answer the following questions:

– How do we identify our gifted and talented students?

– What provision is available to meet the needs of gifted and talented students in the regular classroom?

– How do we adapt organisational frameworks to better support gifted and talented students?

– What pastoral care provisions are required to help support gifted and talented students?

– How do we provide high levels of challenge, complexity, creativity and choice in our classes?

– How do we provide opportunities for Māori and Pasifika students to develop their abilities in a culturally responsive way?

– How do we strengthen relationships between home and school by facilitating ongoing collaboration with parents/whānau?

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Collaborative Impact Programme

Cognition’s Collaborative Impact Programme (CIP) is a framework made for networks of schools that are looking to grow capability by equipping them with the knowledge and skills necessary to maximise student progress and achievement. We understand the challenges faced in education are complex, outcomes are often harder to achieve for some groups of learners, with barriers to improvement often deeply entrenched. That’s why the strategic aim of CIP is to ensure teaching and leadership interactions support all learners to be motivated and engaged. When this aim is met, education systems, networks and communities see acceleration in student attendance, engagement, retention, progress and achievement.

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The Navigator

Mapping your steps to success Simple, versatile, impactful. That’s how our team of expert Relationship Managers are describing our latest tool, The Navigator. Purpose built for schools, kura and Communities of Learning | Kāhui Ako, The Navigator is a self-evaluation tool utilising each of The Education Review Office (ERO) evaluation indicators to determine the status of your school and then use your data to plan your journey towards educational success. Sitting behind The Navigator is a robust process unique to Cognition. Our team of Relationship Managers work with you to ensure you get the most out of the tool, identifying key checkpoints along the way to support your school in monitoring and driving change.